Kennesaw man sentenced to 25 years on child molestation charges
Mar. 25—A former Kennesaw resident has been sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole for multiple counts of child molestation, according to Cobb County District Attorney Flynn Broady.
Kevin Owen Dean, 70, pled guilty to eight counts of child molestation and three counts of aggravated child molestation for acts against a girl beginning when she was just 4 years old, according to the district attorney's office. She came forward in 2010, and since then more women have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse.
Investigators found the abuse continued and escalated for almost 10 years at two Cobb homes and Dean's Marietta office. They found more abuse took place at Dean's office in Cartersville, and Bartow County authorities also brought charges.
In 2012, while awaiting trial in both counties, Dean cut off his ankle monitor and fled the country, according to the district attorney. He evaded capture for seven years, until U.S. Marshals caught up with him in Mexico in 2019, and he was returned to the United States.
Dean pled guilty to child molestation in Bartow County in 2019 and was ordered to serve 20 years in prison.
Since 2010, at least three other women have said Dean molested them as far back as the 1980s in California. He was the pastor at a church and the principal of a school and he ran a summer camp there that the women attended.
The Cobb victim, as well as those three women, each addressed the court Wednesday afternoon.
The Cobb woman said Dean had robbed her of a healthy childhood and would continue to victimize other young girls if he wasn't in prison.
One of the California women called the Cobb woman "a hero," because without her bravery in speaking up the others may never have reported the abuse Dean inflicted on them.
Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris sentenced Dean to 25 years to serve in prison without the possibility of parole, plus life on probation.
Senior assistant district attorney Lindsay Raynor said Dean is a natural manipulator.
"After using his position as a pastor and teacher to molest numerous children, he turned to his own family to continue the abuse for nearly a decade. We are thankful for the bravery of the victims who came forward to finally hold Kevin Dean accountable and to ensure he will never hurt another child again," she said.
Dean's last address before he was taken into custody was in Millen, Georgia, jail records show.
